What training does a Georgia personal support services caregiver need before the first client?
Under Georgia’s private home care rule, a personal care aide needs 20 of 40 training hours before serving clients, unless she has a recognized credential. She also cannot be assigned any task until she has been trained and shown she can do it. Staff must be oriented before they work with clients.
Georgia licenses many Medicaid personal support agencies as private home care providers. Rule 111-8-65-.09 sets the basics for aides:
- Orientation first. Staff must be oriented before working with clients.
- Training hours. A personal care aide needs either a recognized credential (such as nurse aide training) or a 40-hour program. Twenty hours must be done before she serves clients. The other twenty must be done within six months of starting the training.
- Task-by-task proof. "No PCA shall be assigned to perform a task for which training has not been completed." A supervisor must observe her do the task and write that she is competent.
- Clean record. Staff must not have been shown by credible evidence to have abused, neglected or exploited anyone.
- Files. Keep proof of orientation and training in each employee’s file.
Some Medicaid waivers may add their own steps. For consumer-directed personal support, the Georgia form for the care coordinator and client lists training the employer must give, such as CPR, first aid and basic care skills.
Before you hire your first caregiver, write down which of these steps she must finish before her first shift, and keep it in her file.
Sources
- Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 111-8-65-.09 Administration and Organization (Private Home Care Providers) · Cornell Legal Information Institute (Georgia DCH rule text)
- EDWP CD-PSS Skills Inventory / Training Check List · Georgia Medicaid (GAMMIS portal)
- Georgia caregiver training · Vitable Health (private compliance summary, secondary source)
Reviewed by Beth Bledsoe, Care Business Advisor®, 28 Oct 2026. Rules change. Confirm with your state Medicaid agency before you act.
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